Birthday Week: What's Yellow, Squashy, and Stamped All Over? - Production Issues

Mass-production doesn't mean problem-free and when you're working with plastic and paint, production can be rife with issues.

Yellowing

Rapid yellowing models seemed to be most common in 1997 and 1998, but these 2000-01 models obviously have the same issue. This doesn't seem to be a problem with later models, but for those produced between 1997 through 2001, keep them well away from the sun. The usual technique of sun-bleaching is not effective with these models.

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Smooshed Shetlands

Starting in 2004 the forelock of the G2 Shetland Pony began to go a bit limp. This issue became worse over time and current models look very much like they've been hit with a hammer.

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Stamp Swapping

The first of the G2 models were released with a small stamp with a 1998 date. In 2000 this stamp was replaced a 1999 one which was larger and the orientation was flipped.

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Paint Problems

Breyer has released Stablemates in rubber tack without issue, but some times, whether due to paint which isn't completely dry, humidity, and/or heat, the tack causes damage. The paint can be completely lifted away, grooved, or just smeared.

The paint on some of the rapid-yellowing models could go a bit odd, looking pale and slightly green; later models were affected by a similar paint issue specifically those painted chestnut or "yellow", such as this #5601 Appaloosa.

 Like the rapid-yellowing models, the paint goes pale and slightly green-toned though, with these later models, the white plastic is unaffected. I have models produced some time between 2006-08 with this issue as well.

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Translucent Plastic

While this type of plastic was most common in 1997 during one of Breyer's obvious periods of plastic experimentation, translucent plastic still pops up now and then. I have several examples from the 2000-2006 period. The coloured areas on translucent models often look pearly or just extra shiny.

This translucent #5904 Palomino Pony has a smooshed forehead which means he was likely produced sometime between 2004-06 or may be a Target Special Run #720116 Shetland Pony from 2006. The regular run and special run are identical, the only change is in the run number, though translucents seem to be more common in the special run packaging.

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Stamp of Approval - Evolving Bellies

As we've established, many of the G1 molds have twin molding cavities; others only seem to have one cavity, but have still undergone some changes.

G1 Draft Horse
"Floating" mark & "Tight" mark

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Stamp of Approval - The Twin Theory

You just thought we covered all one could possibly say about the belly of a three inch tall model horse with the first Stamp of Approval post, but oh, no we didn't! No, it's not exactly new information, I just got my hands on a later edition of Nancy Young's book during my holiday and have come home armed with more tiny belly trivia.

Apparently all of the Stablemate injection molds - except that of the G1 Saddlebred which is alone in its own mold - have two cavities. One injection mold for sure contains cavities for two different molds, the Thoroughbred Foals, but certain variations in the copyright stamps and concurrent examples of said stamps has lead Nancy Young and others to the conclusion that the cavities in some of these molds are of the same model mold, producing two of the (mostly) same sculptures at once¹⁸.

In her book, Nancy only provides stamp data for a handful of models to demonstrate the overlap. I've provided my observations for all of my models of each mold under discussion; with this larger sample size we can see that some stamp types appear to be more common than their counterparts, but this is not a large enough sample group to determine whether this is a genuine trend or just a luck-of-the-draw coincidence.

Footnotes: The Stamp of Approval - B for Breyer & Other Mold Stamp Stories

Each G1 Stablemate mold has a copyright stamp which consists of the text: "Breyer Molding Co" with a date of either ©1975 or ©1976, depending on when that particular mold was released. When referring to the copyright stamp in this post, I mean this full stamp, not just the © mark.

There have been times during the history of the Stablemate line when the mold mark may have been changed or removed for one reason or another. Damage to the stamp can occur when the model is still soft after being removed from the mold or from exposure to heat or a corrosive substance later in its life.

Footnotes: The Stamp of Approval - A Tale of Two Nostrils, A History of the G1 Morgan Stallion Mold

The popular Morgan Stallion mold always has to be a little different. While a bare-belly on another G1 mold likely indicates an early release, it's not so simple with this mold.

First, bare-belly examples the dapple grey and alabaster models from his "Arabian Stallion" days do exist, though not long into the "Arabian" period he was given the standard copyright stamp; he was dated 1975 even though he was meant to be a later release.⁵

Bare-belly bays aren't uncommon, but hard to positively identify. I have a couple myself, but unless you are the primary purchaser or bought him second hand NIP (New in Package), one cannot say with absolute certainty that particular bay is a 1975 "Arabian Stallion" or a 1976 #5035 "Morgan Stallion". Still, relatively simple, right? Not even close.